We’d like to think that your Wednesday ritual includes reading our latest Recruiting Intelligence blog release over your morning coffee, but we know that you’ve had a lot on your plate recently, and we don’t mean breakfast.
What a difference a week makes? Last week everyone was reacting to the ICE guidance that if U.S. classes were online only, international students had to head for the exits. Now, 7 days later, that order is rescinded and international students may stay in the U.S. and study online.
While this is welcome news, if anyone thinks this is the end of the headaches, confusion and policy level chaos on this topic, they've not been paying attention for the past few years.
Throughout the rise of COVID-19 we’ve been offering quick-hit, actionable advice weekly on this blog, advising on how to weather this storm, salvage your enrollment, and pivot your digital marketing strategy in response to this unprecedented global crisis.
This Not So Fun Fact from UNESCO still boggles our minds: By the first week of April, 190 countries closed kindergartens to higher education institutions simultaneously affecting 1.6 billion learners, 90% of total enrolled learners globally.
If you’ve missed any of our valuable insights these past few months, or if you just need a refresher — we know, there’s a lot to keep track of right now—you’re in luck. Our latest eBook, The New Student Enrollment Playbook: COVID-19 Edition is now available to download for free.
Consider it your one-stop-shop for all things COVID-19, and not to worry, we disinfect the download button following each click ; -)
From advice on crisis contingency planning to a review of the best online learning resources, The New Student Enrollment Playbook will help you and your leadership navigate this new normal and emerge stronger for it. Read on to download your copy.
With COVID-19 news changing every minute, you might be wondering, is a new eBook publication on a pandemic in progress of any value? Will this advice be relevant in a year? A month? What about tomorrow?
Before we publish anything, we consistently ask these types of questions of ourselves to be sure we are adding value, to validate our thinking and writing.
Pandemic or no, Intead has been using historical and current trend data to inform big picture thinking. If you are a long time reader, perhaps you’ve noticed this trend: student recruitment and enrollment topics we blog about, and publish deep research on, often become the hot topics on more mainstream media channels six months to two years later. We have a history of knowing how to pick 'em.
What is important now?
Similar to your efforts pre-COVID:
- Diversifying your student acquisition channels.
- Thinking outside the box when it comes to academic configurations and student services. (You will need more robust student services!)
- Developing global partners allowing you to offer your academic programs in multiple locations.
- Attracting and serving non-traditional students.
- Employing enrollment management EdTech effectively & efficiently.
- Oh, and how about making sure your online classes measure up to the competition and are priced appropriately.
In short, what is important now, as before, is your institution’s ability to innovate and adapt.
We’ve been strategizing around enrollment shocks long before anyone thought of putting the words “social” and “distancing” together. Download your copy of the eBook, and you’ll see what we mean.
If COVID were to disappear tomorrow, we’d still stand by the advice included in these pages. Institutions that were thinking in terms of contingency plans and holistic enrollment strategies before 2020 were several steps ahead when this all kicked off back in February/March.
And while it might be tempting to treat 2020 like a giant game of Whack-A-Mole (and you might have no other options given your current levels of staffing or budget), your success post-pandemic will be determined by the strategies that stick. And yes, you might need some extra hands to get it done.
Give The New Student Enrollment Playbook a read, maybe over your breakfast and morning coffee, and let us know when you are ready to add that extra pair of hands: info@intead.com.
